What colour clothing should be worn by women?

Message: As Salaamu Alaikum . Is there a hadith on wearing Black clothes alone??? I noticed that it is preferred colour for the ‘Salafi’, however it isn’t stated in the Quran but was this a Sunnah practice of the wives of the Prophet (phuh)?

Wa Alaikum As Salaam

There isn’t any hadith which encourages one to wear black or highlights any virtue of wearing black. However, wearing black is permissible for men and women.

It is narrated that Aishah (R.A) said, ‘I made a black cloak for the Prophet (S.A.S) and he put it on, but when he sweated in it and noticed the odour, he threw it away’. (Sunan Abu Dawood, Hadith No,4063)

It is also narrated that the Prophet (S.A.S) wore a black turban on the day of the conquest of Makkah. (Tirmidhi, Hadith No.1735)

From these traditions, it is evident that it is permissible for men to wear black. However one must not stick to the black color and use it as a way of identifying oneself with a group, since the Prophet (S.A.S) wore other colors and did not wear only black. In a hadith recorded by Abu Dawood, it is narrated that Abu Rimthah said, ‘I went with my father to the Prophet (S.A.S) and saw two green sheets over him’. (Sunan Abu Dawood, Hadith No.4054)

This Hadith shows that the Prophet (S.A.S) used to also wear green clothing. In fact, some jurists have stated that it is Sunnah to wear green.

Samurah bin Jundub (R.A) also narrated that the Prophet (S.A.S) said, ‘Wear white clothes because it is more clean, and also clothe your dead in it’. (Shama’il At Tirmizi, Chapter on the clothing of the Prophet (S.A.S), Hadith No.14)

These traditions show that the Prophet (S.A.S) preferred white clothing above other colors and also encouraged his followers to wear it.

With respect to whether wearing black was a Sunnah practice of the wives of the Prophet (S.A.S), I have not come across any information which establishes this. What is evident from the narrations is that the female companions of the Prophet (S.A.S) wore clothing of different colors, including black.

In this regard, a tradition recorded by Abu Dawood states that Umm Salmah (R.A), the wife of the Prophet (S.A.S) narrated that when the verse ‘That they should cast their outer garments over their persons’ was revealed, the women of the Ansar came out as if they had crows over their heads by wearing outer garments’. (Abu Dawood)

It is also narrated that they wore other colors. In a Hadith, while speaking about a woman, Aisha (R.A) said, ‘the lady (came) wearing a green veil’. (Sahih Al Bukhari)

Anas bin Malik (R.A) narrated that he had seen Um Kulthum, the daughter of the Prophet (S.A.S) wearing a red silk garment (Bukhari)

It is evident from these traditions that the female companions of the Prophet (S.A.S) wore colored clothing besides black.